Track & Trace Testbed: Connected Power Tools

Sep 08 2016

The Track and Trace testbed is an Industrial Internet Consortium’s (IIC) project "set up on a controlled experimentation platform, on which solutions can be deployed and tested in an environment that resembles real-world conditions."

Four international companies (Bosch, Tech Mahindra, Cisco, and National Instruments) are working on the Track and Trace testbed with the hopes of answering:

Where is every tool on the factory floor?

Where are the people that are using those tools?

Do they have the right training to use the tools they’re using? A more efficient factory will track and trace tools and people, not only to ensure safety and security, but to find more efficient workflows on the factory floor.

Roles in the project include:

Bosch as a project leader is in charge of the solution design, supplies the Nexo cordless nutrunner made by Bosch Rexroth as well as the Bosch IoT Suite

Tech Mahindra is in charge of the application development

Cisco is taking care of indoor localization technology

National Instruments contributes the configurable on-board logic as well as the interconnection of industrial tools in phase two

Some sample applications:

Determine a tools precise location and use and, therefore, will be able to determine the force and work needed to complete a task.

If a tool recognizes that it is being misused, it will promptly power down to avoid accident or injury.

Sound geofencing alarms to ensure that power tools are used in proper areas of a work site.